The station was originally known as "Chillum" but was changed to "West Hyattsville" in 1979, well before services began on December 11, 1993. The Yellow Line began serving West Hyattsville as of June 18, 2012 when the Metro Rush+ Initiative was introduced, which extended the Yellow Line from Fort Totten all the way up to Greenbelt, by way of the already existing Green Line Metrorail Train tracks, during weekday rush hour/peak period commuter times. The Yellow Line originally terminated at Mount Vernon Square but was later on extended to Fort Totten on December 31, 2006 as part of a 12-month experiment during off peak commuter times and weekends, at the suggestion of D.C. Councilmember, Jim Graham. Due to its success, this extension of the Yellow Line was made permanent around May, 2008. However; on June 25, 2017, Metro's
Yellow Line trains stopped serving the West Hyattsville station due to the elimination of Rush+, which was part of major changes to the Metrorail system. However; on May 20, 2019, Metro announced that Yellow Line trains will be re-extended from Mount Vernon Square and Fort Totten to Greenbelt at all service hours beginning May 25, 2019. On May 7, 2023, the northeastern terminus of the
Yellow Line was truncated from to , following its reopening after a nearly eight-month-long major rehabilitation project on
its bridge over the
Potomac River and its tunnel leading into . From July 22 to September 4, 2023, the station was shut down to improve rail system technologies, including free shuttle bus services to closed stations north of . Half of Yellow Line service was re-extended to Greenbelt on December 31, 2025. ==References==